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Greetings,

I have been appreciative of the depth of your short videos and for the most part have been completely with you. However, I contend what you proclaim in “What Does the Bible Say About Divorce and Remarriage?” is blatantly false according to Scripture and potentially damaging to others. Please allow a rebuttal from a brother.

First it should be noted that it is the husband, not an institution either church or state, that issues the certificate of divorce, which is consistent with Deuteronomy 24:1.

Then perhaps the most important. There is no statement or even suggestion on Matthew 5:32 of a license for remarriage. It is reading into the text something that is not addressed.

You are correct that the only grounds for divorce is sexual immorality, or “porneia” which is a blanket term covering all forms of sexual sins. But “divorce” or “apostasion” is to separate from or repudiate. It is for the husband to state he is no longer responsible for an adulterous wife. It is in no way related to a state decreed divorce which removes the bond the state created. This is seen in Matthew 19:6 which you quote. As followers of Christ, marriage is defined by the Lord not the state.

The point that I contend most trip up on is Matthew 19:9. This is an allowance to divorce or “apoluō” (to set free) a wife who has committed sexual sin. It does state that marrying another while your first wife has not committed sexual sin is adultery. It does NOT say that you can marry another if you have put away your wife. That is reading in what has not been written.

This can be easily seen in the obvious verses you simply ignored, Mark 10:11-12: “And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."”

There is no license suggested or implied in the Mark passage. Why did you skip it? It seems it might have been skipped since it contradicts your conclusion. Do you see why that seems true?

The reason some will say that remarriage is adultery is because the Lord says it in Mark 10.

Your reasoning on Romans 7 shocked me. You are ready and willing to read in a license in Matthew 19 that does not exist, but will read out a direct statement in Romans 7. This seems rather unlike you from your other videos. You seem to be stating that this is stated but not meant in the situation that it directly applies to. That is a pretty feeble God who must use that kind of reasoning. I contend it means what is written and in the context it is written.

You use chapter 24:5 of the Westminster Confession of Faith which was dropped in the Savoy Declaration of Faith and the London Baptist Confession of Faith. This obviously stands out as I thought you were Baptist. The WCF uses Matthew 19:9 and Romans 7:2-3 as the reference for “as if the offending party were dead” but it is blatantly reading in and I suggest that is why Savoy and LBC removed it.

It is also interesting that you use Deuteronomy 22:22. If you study the women mention in the line of Christ who had former husbands before the man who would be in the line of Christ, all of the former husbands are dead before the union that brings Christ. The one that perhaps stands out the most is Rahab.

I fully agree with closing sentiment. Adultery is not the unforgivable sin. The Lord’s grace is magnificent even in this area. But reading in grace to allow remarriage when none is offered is giving license to sin not pointing to obedience to Christ.

This comes from a man abandoned by his wife with no sexual sin involved. See “Marriage Defined and a Commitment Beyond” http://kozlowski.org/2018-12-08+1

I honestly believe you proclaim the Scripture far better than most and it has been clear and conscience. There have been other videos that I don’t think you have 100% right, but I am not foolish enough to think that I am 100% right. In this case you address an area that I have done a lot of study on and I suggest the license you proclaim for remarriage, especially to someone weak in the faith, is a horrible license to sin.

Marriage is a reflection of the relationship between the Lord and His elect. I think we would agree on that. To suggest that you can have another spouse while the first is alive to suggest you can have another God (Exodus 20:3).

Respectfully,

John Kozlowski